Channels, Fall 2016

Page 156 Parson • Drawing Is Where the Joy Is riding a bicycle with a look of intense concentration. Even though he loses his balance and nearly falls, the animated Hajime regains control and determination to continue cycling. In both sketchbooks Akira uses the symbolism developed throughout the film to depict his grandchildren conquering their own personal monsters. At her next practice session, Sachiko completes the backflip and finally banishes her giant double, indicating that in some sense Akira’s animation offered her the strength to overcome her self-doubt. For Nobuo and Yoshiko, the encouragement is subtler, but it nonetheless addresses their needs for encouragement in the face of the monstrous. A simple animation of Yoshiko walking through the rain depicts her with red hair and porcelain skin, practically glowing against a white umbrella, as through it were depicting some interior version of Yoshiko to remind her that “Yoshiko’s world” and the bright colors she sees in her own subconscious are worth pouring out in art and animation. The animation of Nobuo—a child with a relay baton stumbling, falling, and getting up to continue the race—is apparently so unfamiliar that Nobuo at first believes it must be an image of Hajime. However, when Yoshiko finally convinces him that it was meant for him, he takes the book and flips it over and over, apparently drawing comfort from the image of a forgotten part of his character. In this way, Akira’s farewell present perfectly captures the power of the artist to comfort and inspire others through their mediation between individuals and society. If Ishii had stopped after demonstrating the cathartic effect of art on the Haruno family’s experience of the monstrous, he would only have proved that art has power to connect and encourage the artist’s family and friends, which would severely limit the influence of the artist. For this reason, he returns one final time to the case of the cosplayers. In her discussion of otaku culture, Amit describes the practice of dressing up as favorite anime, manga, and video game characters as an imitative art form that “mixes both real life and fiction together” and seeks to identify with or participate in the ideas and goals of an artistic project (174). The remarkable level of detail depicting the cosplayers’ derivative artwork shows that they have taken the goals and values of the “Meteor Power Force” as their own. Through fandom, then, they have assimilated the artist’s vision of culture and the world, and this assimilation has affected their behavior and values even at basic levels of behavior. When the boy with the large robot costume begins to complain about its bulk, the other responds with the comment, “You’re a disgrace to the Meteor Power Force!” with the obvious intent to inflict real shame on his companion ( The Taste of Tea ). In this way, the values of a pop-art fandom have begun to create their own code of ethics and behavior. Further, Ishii suggests that the imitation of heroism in art can create a solid basis for ethical character and courage. When Sachiko discovers the head of a still-living yakuza who has been buried alive with only a straw to breathe through, the cosplayers happen to be the first people she asks for help. Surprisingly, they both believe Sachiko’s report and respond in a spirit of heroism and compassion, not only helping to rescue the buried gangster but also listening politely to his shock-induced ramblings and offering him a handkerchief (useless though it turns out to be) to clean some of the mud from his face. This incident may be the most significant impact of art in the film, because it demonstrates both the power of the artist to influence individuals outside his personal acquaintance and the power of art to reconcile the individual to real instances of the contemporary